Seeing that, Zaoh sighed. He'd been told before to count on Vahnu to help him at the academy. But at the same time, they'd also warned him not to bring up certain topics around her.
Unlike the Dragon King and the top brass of the Mannaz with Dragon blood, she was someone absolutely devoted to the academy and to winning the war against the Risen.
Actually, in the past, she shocked everyone when she killed hundreds of Mannaz from various tribes after finding proof they were traitors. But little did she know, the filthiest corruption was hiding right under her nose.
For some reason — maybe because she was so close to the Dragon King and the others — she never found any evidence or clues... maybe she even had her suspicions, but always ended up convincing herself of their honesty.
Back to the current situation. She could feel it, deep down — Niara and Darian were hiding a lot. She didn't see them as traitors, but the signs of something abnormal were clear. They were obviously at the center of it all — latecomers, then a calamity-level slug shows up, and now all this?
"Inside the abyssal nest, where every passing hour lets the Risen send even stronger enemies... there's no room for wasting time," she murmured coldly.
"The punishment for anyone breaking the rules in a situation like this is simple: death. The ones who committed the crime were killed, and the two you didn't finish off, I'll deal with them myself. After all this is over, I'll personally investigate everyone connected to them and punish them severely. But for now, I can't let you two, Dariaan and Niara, go. You're clearly an unknown variable that needs to be removed."
Niara snorted, confirming mentally: 'She definitely hates traitors as much as I do...'
Darian nodded. That was the confirmation he needed. This High Elder might be harsh, but she wasn't wrong. The simplest way for the traitors to win inside the nest was to destabilize the ranks from the inside. The way they showed up out of nowhere, followed by all this chaos... it was way too suspicious.
"I get it. Alright then, let's explain." Darian spoke calmly, turning in a direction. "Tarn, show her."
Zaoh was confused. Vahnu narrowed her eyes and turned around. She saw a Spiritual Guardian that looked like a purple slime trembling and staring at her.
"Allow me... to use my blessing..." Tarn muttered, struggling to speak.
She nodded, lifting the suppression on him.
Tarn and Ronan stood up. Right after, the slime glowed with a purple aura. "Rise."
A bit farther off, two rookies stood up from the ground in a stiff, robotic way. In their eyes... there was a strange purple hue and a peculiar emptiness.
"That... that blessing..."
Darian replied flatly, "Yeah, their minds are totally under control. I just need to ask, and they'll answer, right?"
Tarn nodded. "They respond positively to any command, and answer any question asked, using their real memories. I can't make stuff up. They just do and say what they truly know and are capable of. The High Elder knows my blessing, right?"
Vahnu nodded, stunned. She knew it — back then, she had used someone even stronger with this same blessing to find traitors. Everyone well-informed at the academy knew about that event — that was how Vahnu became a High Elder. No one had ever found so many traitors on their own before.
She knew: this blessing was insanely hard to use fully and to control someone. But once someone was controlled, it was absolutely safe and reliable.
"Great. You! You pervy bastard!" Darian said, pointing at that elite rookie. "What was your goal coming to this nest?"
Zaoh's eyes widened as he realized what was happening.
The man immediately opened his mouth: "Orders from above were: take advantage of the moment to profit as much as possible, without fear. Wait for the signal, then activate the mark."
"What?!" Vahnu's eyes went wide.
"You, idiot." Darian pointed at the guy with Dragon blood. "You're with him too, right? You know all the Mannaz traitors from your bloodline?"
That young man opened his mouth, expressionless: "Yes. I was recruited by the Dragon King. But they were all introduced to me..."
He went on to list a dozen names of people close to the King — none of them were Summoners.
Finally, Vahnu roared and demanded the names of all the Summoners the two knew were inside the nest.
But they barely knew anyone besides Zaoh and a few others below them — who weren't Summoners either. They knew a lot of people in the higher ranks were on their side, but the traitors weren't stupid. To avoid everyone being exposed at once in case something like this happened, they didn't reveal themselves to the small fry unless necessary.
Everyone in the third row was pale as a sheet. Traitors? These people they'd been fighting beside... they couldn't believe it.
Meanwhile, the rookies' eyes sparkled as they looked at Niara — silent, but with a bloodthirsty expression. Her partner, on her shoulder, looked even more radiant now.
"Now that we've cleared up who the real traitors are..." Darian said coldly, "Let's get to the point. What's this so-called mark?"
"No idea," the two of them answered at the same time.
They could only say what was in their memories — they couldn't lie, think for themselves, or make anything up.
Darian nodded. Those two were small fry, but they did their job. Luckily, he'd also managed to catch a slightly bigger fish.
Vahnu and everyone else turned to Zaoh, who was frozen in place. He was the leader of the traitors with a ring. Now, completely sealed by the High Elder's power, he had no way to escape.
He definitely knew a few names, and might have some info on the traitors' plan...
"I'm pretty experienced in mentally breaking someone," Vahnu said flatly. "Tarn, can you control one more?"
That Spiritual Guardian quickly nodded.
She took a step forward.
But then...
She noticed Zaoh's eyes go blank. His partner next to him looked absolutely terrified — like he could feel what was about to happen.
Niara sensed something instinctively.
Darian noticed the karma inside Zaoh suddenly shift. His eyes widened. He saw something that had been hidden now starting to emerge.
Inside Zaoh's chest, mixed with his karma, Darian alone saw a strange glow blossom.
"There!" he shouted, pointing to Niara. She was the only one who could stop it.
But they were too slow.
*BOOOM!!*
A rain of blood splattered in every direction.
Zaoh's entire existence blew up. His partner beside him started cracking like glass, then died shortly after.
'Fuck...' Darian spat. It had been triggered, and even though he realized it right away, he was still too weak to do anything about it.
The explosion wasn't powerful, but nothing was left of Zaoh. Vahnu was confused — she hadn't felt a thing until he was already gone. Darian was the only one who reacted in time.
The little slug took a deep breath. Then, he turned to the other two still under mental control. He wasn't discouraged — in fact, he felt like laughing.
That thing was mixed into their karma — and luckily, karma was Darian's specialty. After sensing it in Zaoh, he could definitely detect it in those two too, even if it was well hidden.
Until...
"!"
Niara's eyes shot open.
Instinctively, she moved her hand and grabbed the slug, pulling him to her chest in protection.
She thought about flapping her wings to escape, but she could feel she wouldn't make it in time. So, she activated all her power into the defense of her scales.
**PIERCE**
Darian felt a sudden jolt, followed by soul-crushing pain.
When he came to his senses, a black arrow had pierced through Niara — and hit him too.
His life started cracking apart... almost like shattered glass...